


Hidden gender, disguised princesses, and other consequences of a royal coup d'état

by literalhedgehog



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Middle Ages, Princess Ben references, Prisoner of War, Secret Identity, Swearing, Work In Progress, disguised as a boy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23329519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literalhedgehog/pseuds/literalhedgehog
Summary: When Princess Lily escaped her castle following the takeover of her kingdom by rebel leader Tom Riddle, the last thing she expected was to be captured by members of Gryffindor's armed forces. Confused for a local boy, Lily has to navigate life in the war camp as she decides what to do about Riddle, and about her growing feelings of camaraderie for the people she meets.Loosely based off part of the book "Princess Ben" which I definitely plan to reread once I'm done writing this piece.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

"State your name and business."

The man held his bayonet up towards his face, aiming it at her. Lily watched the gun nervously, realizing as her eyes flicked to the Gryffindor badge on his uniform, that she must have walked too close to the enemy base camp.

Princess Lily Evans of Hogwarts had been in the woods for three days, after fleeing the castle following its takeover by the Death Eaters, the followers of Tom Riddle. She had only escaped with the help of her friend, Severus, who had posed as one of the rebel guards and had led her out of an unwatched portion of the castle. Oh, Severus. Lily hoped he would be okay.

Her sister had always disapproved of her friendship with Severus, but their parents had allowed it when they were alive. Lily, after all, was the Kingdom’s second princess and wasn't going to take the throne. She knew she was given far more freedom than Petunia was ever allowed, and when she was younger she had taken advantage of it: climbing trees with the other castle children, reading all the books in the library, and following around the midwife and cook on alternating days until they either sent her out of the room or gave her things to do if only to keep her out from underfoot. Severus had been right there with her for all of her adventures, acting like the sibling Petunia never was. She had thrived on the activities that Petunia scorned, though she now wondered from time to time if Petunia had only pretended to hate what Lily did since she hadn't the time to do them herself.

When their parents died a year and a half ago, Lily had suddenly been forced into learning not only how to conduct herself as a princess, but how to potentially serve as a queen. Petunia was doing everything in her power to ensure Lily never actually became queen, (something Lily was both grateful for and a little bit insulted by) but since she hadn't gotten married yet, there was still a chance Lily could be queen. Especially if Riddle- no. Lily was not going down that line of thought. Lily was not going to be queen. Lily was going to help make sure Riddle was overthrown so that Petunia's marriage with Count Von Whatever could go through and she could be godmother to Petunia's angelic future child. And then Lily could be friends with whatever commoner she liked, though she was willing to bet Severus would probably be titled by then for helping her escape.

Severus had been the first one to tell Lily about the Kingdom of Gryffindor. She had read about the Kingdom afterword of course, but it was different hearing about it from Severus since he had actually been there. Gryffindor was the closest neighboring country of Hogwarts, and they were currently in a time of peaceful trade between the two nations. Well, not currently, Lily reflected, as she stared at the scarred face of the soldier in front of her. The ambassador to Gryffindor had been rather patronizing when Petunia had taken the throne following their parent's deaths. He had spoken kindly but kept offering unasked-for advice on how she should govern her country. As if Petunia had ever needed advice. Severus told Lily that he thought Gryffindor secretly wanted to take control of Hogwarts, to have free access to all the resources they currently traded for. Gryffindor had shown public outrage at Riddle's take-over of Hogwarts, but Lily was willing to bet that when the armies they had mobilized to remove Riddle from the throne arrived, they might just remove the throne altogether.

"Sorry, I must have taken the wrong path," Lily, said, avoiding eye contact with the man. "I'll just go back the way I came and get out of your way." She started to turn around when she felt something touch her side.

"Not so fast, kid." of course there was a second man. What soldier would go on patrol alone? Lily kicked herself mentally. She had let her guard down twice today. The first time when she had walked onto the edge of an enemy camp. The second time when she had watched the man in front of her so closely that she had let someone else sneak up behind her. She tried to look at the second man out of her eye, but he stepped further behind her as the man in front of her lowered his bayonet.

“Well, he's not in uniform. What do you think," he said looking over Lily's shoulder at his partner, "think we caught a local farmboy?"

Farmboy? Lily didn't even listen to his response. They thought she was a boy. To escape from the castle, she had put on pants and a loose enough shirt to run in. Not many women in the kingdom wore pants, and those who did wore a thin skirt over them for modesty. And her hair... well it had gotten caught in a briar a day ago. Lily’s thick auburn hair had always seemed to have a life of its own when she was younger, but at least it was manageable when long. After the briar incident, when she had to cut the hair that she couldn't untangle off, it had become shoulder length tangle of knots. She had tied it back as best she could with some threads that had come loose from the hem of her shirt, but in the current humidity, she assumed that it was curling in some form of cloud around her head. The two soldiers’ assumption that she was male was slightly insulting, but she could understand their thinking. She also had no plans to correct them. There were some honorable men who became soldiers. She had read enough books to know that, even if some of them were technically fiction. But a few of the stories she had read, ones set on high shelves to discourage children or ladies from coming across them unintentionally, told tales of what less honorable soldiers have done to women walking alone. Better Lily look a man walking alone than a woman.

"How old are you kid?" The soldier in front of Lily removed his hat, ruffling his free hand through his sandy blond hair.

"Twenty," Lily said in a low voice, ducking her head towards the ground, hoping the action would hide her sharp chin.

"Really?" The Sandy-haired soldier walked over to lean against a tree and crossed his arms. Lily noticed even more scars crossing the backs of his hands, standing out almost white against his beige skin. "And you haven't enlisted? I thought most men that age were drafted last Spring."

"I was needed on the farm. With my sister's husband fighting and Pa gone... someone needed to stay for the harvest." Lily's eyes stung. She had barely thought of her father's death since the year of mourning had ended. She had been so busy, there was hardly time to think of it. But mentioning it now, so casually to a stranger, felt wrong. She blinked hard, then jumped as something touched her cheek. 

The soldier who had been behind her was visible now, as he had stepped closer to run the back of his hand over Lily's cheek. He was a vision of contrasts, with his white face surrounded by long black hair, about the length of Lily's now actually, and a wicked smirk on his face as he turned to the first soldier.

"Just as I thought, smooth as a lady's glove."

"A gardening glove, surely." Lily would have scowled at the amusement in the other man's voice, were she not so terrified.

"Nope. Nice cotton if not silk. Must be the smoothest shave I've ever seen under all that dirt."

“Hmmm." Sandy-hair crossed his arms and looked at Lily, a tired expression on his face. "Look. You're clearly not twenty. I would recommend you tell us your real age, otherwise we will have to try you as an adult. If you want a free, if uncomfortable, trip to Gryffindor's capital then great, you're twenty. But I'm going to ask you again. How old are you?"

“Ss-Seventeen”

“Right,” the black-haired soldier drawled, “And I’ll bet my hat that the hesitation there means you considered saying sixteen.”

"Anywhere between fifteen and seventeen then." The sandy-haired man stood back up, grabbing his weapon from where he had leaned it against the tree. "Come on then. Our captain will decide what to do with you."

“Or," Lily said, in what she hoped was an innocent but still persuasive tone, "you could just let me go. I don't live far from here, but I've got cows to milk in the morning." Cows were milked in the morning, right?

The black-haired soldier snorted, while his partner worked to hide a smile. "I'm afraid we can't do that," he said, while his still-laughing partner took hold of one of Lily's arms and started moving forward. "If you left knowing where our camp is, we would have to assume you were a spy."

"Hey, don't worry kid" The soldier gripping her arm put his other hand on her back when she froze. "As long as you don't try to run off on us, you're perfectly safe. Now come on, James'll know what to do with you in the meantime."


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Prongsie! Got a minute?" The Black-haired soldier stuck his head into the edge of one of the taller tents on the far side of the camp. Lily looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Prongsie? They told her she was being taken to see their captain. He had even mentioned the name James. She craned her head around, looking for another part of the camp that might hold the captain's quarters. There were a few long wooden structures over towards the east, but the rest of the tents seemed to be the same size. If there was a captain, supposing he didn't reside in one of those buildings, he was here, in this tent large enough for several men to stand in. Lily looked forward again. She heard the sound of a pen scratching parchment, barely even pausing as the man inside spoke.

"Padfoot, you better have a good fucking reason to abandon your post 15 minutes early. If I hear someone so much as breathe the word favoritism, I swear, I will sign you up for latrine duty myself."

The sandy-haired soldier behind her laughed, as "Padfoot" rolled his eyes in front of her. "Believe it or not, I do take this job seriously James."

"Yes, being _Serious_ becomes you. Now, what do you want?"

The two soldiers pulled Lily inside as the man finished speaking. He looked up at them wearily, then sat back as he saw Lily. In the light of the candles on the camp-desk in front of him, his skin glinted almost bronze as he moved. He pushed his glasses up his nose then looked to the man on Lily's left.

"Remus, could you-"

"I'm on it." The sandy-haired soldier nodded and walked out of the tent. Lily saw him standing guard a few meters away, leaving her with only "Padfoot" and James in the tent.

"I don't suppose there's any chance you are here to introduce me to our newest recruit?"

"It would be nice, but no. Caught the kid stumbling down the trail near the far side of camp. Think he's a local, fifteen to seventeen years old as best we can guess."

"As best you can guess?"

"He wasn't exactly forthcoming. Tried to tell us he was twenty in the beginning."

James laughed, uncrossing his arms as he turned to address Lily. " What's with the age jump, were you on your way to buy some mead or something?"

"No." Lily cursed the man internally. There was no possible way to respond to a question like that where she wouldn't sound like a sulking child. "Everyone who knows me knows I'm old enough to drink."

"Ale maybe." James scratched the hair behind his ear absentmindedly. Looking at his hair, Lily got the impression that was a normal action for him. His black hair was sticking out at all angles, with all the appearance of a hedgehog. "You got a name kid?"

"He wouldn't give us one when we caught him," Padfoot said, lounging in one of the tent's chairs lazily. At a look from James, he sat up, looking at James instead of Lily as he continued. " couldn't get one out of him on the way back either, but I think it's just stubbornness. Doesn't have quite the air of a spy."

"Isn't that why we chose Wormtail to get close to Riddle though, because no one would suspect him?"

"Yeah, but it's different. Just talk to the kid, you'll see what I mean."

James sighed, then looked from Padfoot to Lily. “You know, we might trust you a little more if you told us your name.”

“You’re not going to let me go either way, so I don’t see why it matters.” The words slipped out before Lily could stop herself. Luckily neither James nor Padfoot looked offended. Surprised maybe, but not upset. Lily took a breath and spoke again, taking care to lower her voice slightly, before they had time to think about the higher pitch of her last statement. “I’ll tell you my name if you tell me what you plan to do with me.”

There was a moment of silence as both men stared at her. Then Padfoot burst out laughing.

“You’re BARTERING with us?” James asked incredulously. Lily felt the heat begin to creep up her cheeks and looked down. She felt the men looking at her as she heard Padfoot speak to James, his voice still breathless from amusement. “Okay Prongs, I like this kid.”

“You would. You like anyone who gives me a hard time.” She heard James sigh again and peered up under her eyelashes to see him running his fingers through the hair on top of his head, unintentionally pressing any hair that might have considered falling into his face into an upright position. “Okay, you have yourself a deal. You want to sit down?”

Lily sat cautiously in the chair he gestured towards, crossing her arms over her chest. James wasn’t looking at her, instead pulling a map of the border of Hogwarts and Gryffindor out of a pile of papers and putting it in front of them.

“It would be simpler if you were older,” he said moving aside various papers so the map could lay flat. “Prisoners of war who are over-age are secured and sent back to Gryffindor’s capital for a trial. There the innocent can be given lodging, compensation, and work until the war ends.”

"Why not release them?” Lily interjected, faltering when both men looked at her. “I mean- you, you said they’re innocent. Why not just let them go.”

“Safety,” Padfoot said simply. “By the time they’ve gone through a trial, they likely know the locations of multiple different military encampments. Even if they wouldn’t willingly give up those locations, and after being taken prisoner for a few months, I don’t doubt that a few people would, I wouldn’t put it past Riddle to try and torture those out of someone.” Lily shivered. She wouldn’t put it past Riddle either.

“Yes, anyway,” James said, stressing the second word as he glared at Padfoot. “Not to go into details and scare you, but not sending people home is better for the safety of us and the people we capture. But with you being underage and all, I think the protocol might be different. I’ll send a letter to my higher-ups asking for instruction, but for now, we’ll probably just put you to work.”

“Doing what?” Lily tried to keep the suspicion from her voice, she really did. James didn’t seem to notice, and Padfoot only smirked.

“How would you feel about either helping clean latrines, helping the cook, or chopping firewood?”

“You’ll let me decide?” Lily was surprised. She hadn’t expected the military to be democratic.

“Well, no. I’ll probably assign you to help the cook regardless of what you choose,” James admitted. “It’s the easiest way to make sure someone is always available to keep an eye on you. But I thought it would be nice to at least let you feel like you had options.”

“I guess I’ll help the cook then?” It’s what she probably would have chosen anyway, though chopping firewood did seem like the sort of activity that would enable an escape attempt. Not that it mattered.

“See?” Padfoot said, leaning over from where he was sitting to slap a hand on her back, “don’t you appreciate having the illusion of choice?”

“Sirius,” James said, “don’t make the kid feel worse.”

“Sirius?” Lily asked. He said it with a similar tone to how he had said Padfoot earlier. How many nicknames did this man have?

“That’s the name my mother blessed me with.” Padfoot, or Sirius rather, said leaning back in his chair. “The one good thing she did for me too. No wonder she never calls me by it anymore. Always ‘cursed child’ or ‘traitor to the family name.’”

“Speaking of which,” James said learning forward towards Lily. “You were going to give us your name?”

Fair was fair, Lily had promised to tell them her name. Though she never said which one. “Evans my name.”

“Alright then, Evan,” James said standing and reaching a hand out to Lily, “I’m Captain James Potter, of the Gryffindor fighting forces. Welcome to Hogsmeade base camp.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I played around with the formatting of this chapter, let me know if it worked better than the last chapter for you!


	3. Chapter 3

When Lily was 9 years old she was sent away from the dinner table for having an unkempt appearance.

It was the night of some kind of state function, perhaps a banquet welcoming the new ambassadors or thanking the local bishop for services to the crown. Whatever the reason, Lily was supposed to be there, to help represent the royal family. She was given explicit instructions to keep clean for this event, and for most of the day she did. When she changed into her dress that afternoon, a wine-red dress her mother insisted would go well with her eyes, she did her best to stay tidy. She took tiny steps instead of running, watched her favorite courtyard games from her window, and even refused Sev's offer to talk in the garden, though it was the quietest activity he could think of. Her only mistake was going into the kitchen. She just thought to say hello to her friend Mary, one of the scullery maids, but with all the activity going on to prepare for the meal, merely stepping into the room caused her to be dusted with a fine layer of flour.

The flour had fallen in such a fine layer that it almost looked like a fine layer of fabric adorning the dress. It wasn't especially noticeable in Lily's point of view, nothing to get upset over. At least it wasn't manure. This time. However, one look at the dais and she could see how thin her mother's lips had become -- the only visible expression of her disappointment. Lily wasn't sure what made her feel worse, the disapproval on her mother's face, or the complete lack of surprise on her father's. All he did was gesture to an already waiting serving woman to escort Lily from the room.

Lily wondered what they would think if they could see her now. How long had it been since she had been clean? Five days? Six? She couldn't quite remember if she had time to bathe the day she had escaped the castle, though it hardly mattered now. Lily could see a line on her forearm separating where the dishwater's soap and grease met the woods' dirt and dust. Thinking about her parents' faces seeing her now, the filthiest she had ever been, made Lily want to laugh. Though in truth, almost everything made her want to laugh at the moment. Exhaustion caused Lily to emotionally react in two ways: either by laughing or crying. Most often she chose to laugh.

"You know, Evan," she heard Sirius say from somewhere behind her, "You look terrible."

She didn't even look up from the pot she was scrubbing. " Thanks," She said, accentuating the biting edge of her voice with sharp stokes of the dishcloth, "You're not exactly the ideal beauty either." It was a lie, and they both knew it. Lily may not have been in this camp long, but it didn't take long to realize that Sirius was the sort of man who knew just how handsome he was. He carried himself differently, and looked more comfortable in his uniform than did the average soldier, though he usually wore it in some state of disarray.

Sirius walked around Lily's pile of dishes to clean and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms as he looked at her. "Insults aside," he said forcing her to meet his eye, "I think we both know I was referring to the second skin of dust you seem to have grown there. You know, you are allowed to bathe. There's a steam a little ways out of camp that most of us use. As long as you go when there are other people to make sure you don't swim away, I'm sure it would be fine for you to come." Lily looked back at her work and continued scrubbing, not quite sure how to respond. "Unless," Sirius said, in a joking voice, "You enjoy feeling like a walking pig pen?"

"I don't like to bathe in public," Lily mumbled, hoping she didn't look as embarrassed as she felt. She could practically feel the blush rushing up her cheeks. It was probably hidden by the dirt though, right? "Having other people around makes me self conscious, so I always forget something."

"You're kidding," She heard Sirius say. She leaned further over the pot she was scrubbing, bending her head to hide her face. " Next you're going to tell me that you can't use the outhouse with people nearby because you can't go with the thought of people listening to you!"

"Ummm," Lily began, not quite sure how to respond, but Sirius interrupted her before she could say anything else.

"I can't believe this. Moony," he called over Lily's shoulder, "we caught another Wormtail!"

"What's going on?" Lily heard footsteps signal Remus's approach as he responded to Sirius. He sounded amused at least, so Sirius probably wasn't upset with her. She had noticed that, though Remus did not quite display his emotions as openly as his friend, his tone of voice often reflected his reactions to his friend. Lily sneaked a glance upward. Remus had one arm crossed over his chest, which he was using to support the elbow of his other arm as he took a sip from the mug he was carrying. "Why is Evan another Wormtail?"

"He is scared of hygiene when there are other people around."

"I'm not scared!" Lily protested, suddenly feeling a pang in her heart when she realized that she sounded exactly like a younger Severus. He hated the idea of people thinking him weak. She shook her feeling away, saying "All I said was that I didn't like to be naked around other people. I'm not a coward."

Sirius and Remus were unfazed by her retort. Sirius had placed a hand over his heart and was looking at her with an expression of sarcastic nostalgia. Remus seemed to be hiding a smirk behind his mug. "Ahh to be young and defensive," Sirius said, looking over at Remus. "Do you remember when we were this concerned about our own self-image?"

"You mean yesterday?" Lily snorted in response to Remus' comment, then ducked her head when he looked at her. "You know Evan," he began quietly, "being afraid of something is not a character flaw." Lily looked up slowly, meeting his eyes for the first time that day as he continued. "One of our best friends is afraid of many things, including 'public hygiene' as Sirius calls it. He is also one of the bravest men I know."

"Well," Sirius began, but Remus elbowed him silent. "If you want, we can find a way to give you some privacy to get clean."

"Really?" Lily asked, touched by the man's kindness. "You would do that?"

"Of course," Remus said shrugging. 'If nothing else, I would really prefer someone to not be covered in debris when they interact with my food."

"Yeah," Sirius interjected, grinning. "And hey, you can probably use James' dignity tub!"

“I’m sorry, dignity tub?”

“When James was made captain, they sent him here with a tub for bathing. Something about being elevated in his soldiers eyes, and maintaining dignity through separation and all that. Anyway,” Sirius said shrugging, “He never uses it.”

“Doesn’t have the patience to wait for it to be filled,” Remus added, smiling. “But if you were willing to do that part yourself, I’m sure he can be convinced to give you use of it.”

“And in exchange,” Sirius said, with a grin sliding back onto his face, “you save us a fresh loaf of bread in the morning.”

“I’m sorry,” Lily said, attempting to feign astonishment, “Are you bargaining with me?”

“What can I say,” Sirius said with a sigh, “You’ve inspired me. So, what do you say laddybuck? We’ve got a deal?”

“We do,” Lily said, raising her eyebrows, “if you promise to never call me that again.”

“What would you prefer?” Sirius said. “Young man? M’lad? Boy? Kid? Love? Chap?”

“Ignore him,” Remus interrupted, shaking his head as Lily stared at Sirius, incredulous. “He does this to everyone.”

“I beg your pardon,” Sirius said, “I do not give a nickname to everyone. People consider themselves fortunate, blessed even, to be bestowed a nickname by the Sirius Black.”

“Please,” Remus started, “how long did it take you to give lieutenant Weasley a nickname? Five minutes? I don’t think the man even said a word to you before you—”

“Anyway,” Sirius continued, pointedly ignoring Remus now. “I think it would help if we knew what Evan means.”

“What it means.” Lily repeated. “It’s a name.”

“Okay, but sometimes names have meaning, or at the very least meaning for your parents. For example,” Sirius said, “It’s a tradition in my family, to name boys after constellations.”

“Must be a noble tradition,” Lily said, beginning to scrub a new pot.

“What do you mean a noble tradition?” Sirius said, standing straight from where he was leaning against the wall. “Who told you I was a noble?”

“No one,” Lily said, looking up at him. “You just act like one. Talk like one too. Comfortable talking nicely, as though you were raised speaking proper, and didn’t just learn it in school.”

“Well done, Padfoot,” Remus said, slapping Sirius on the back as he spluttered looking at Lily, “outted yourself again.”

“Hey,” Sirius protested, “I’m not noble anymore. Mother kicked me out remember? And anyway, when did you become such an expert on nobles Evan?”

“I never said I was an expert, but I know how to recognize one when they talk to me.” Lily didn’t look up. “Enough of them have visited our stall in the market. If you don’t serve them first they get twitchy.”

“Is that what you were doing in the capital the day we found you in the woods?” Remus asked. “Working in the market?”

Lily looked at him. Was that a trick question? “Market day is always on Saturday,” she said slowly, watching his face for a signal that she was saying the wrong thing. “But my friend Mary works in a bakery, so we have an arrangement worked out for storing some things at her shop.”

“Is Mary going to worry when you don’t show up this week?” Remus asked, concern on his face. “Do you think she might try to find you?”

“I doubt it,” Lily said snorting. The two men looked at her, confused. “The Marketplace was blown up by Riddle’s followers,” she explained. Lily had seen the damage on her way out of the city. The city market, with flower murals creeping up every building, and mosaics inlaid in the street’s cobblestones, had been considered one of the kingdom’s treasures for a thousand years. And in one night it was destroyed. “Apparently they were trying to give us a message or something. Anyway, Mary won’t expect me back for a while.”

“And did they,” Remus asked, “send you a message, I mean?”

“Yeah,” Lily said, “It said that the market wasn’t happening this week. Anyway,” she continued, as Remus and Sirius snorted, “the Hogwarts royal family always names their girls after flowers. So, I figured naming traditions might be a noble thing.”

“Well fear not Evan,” Sirius said, “I promise I will find a good nickname for you eventually, so long as you manage to sneak at least one fresh bread loaf away from Aberforth for us. Speaking of which,” he said, looking around, “where is Aberforth.”

“He went to go pick some foxglove,” Lily said shrugging. She looked up to see Sirius and Remus exchanging glances. “What?” She asked, causing them to start, “do you know what that’s for? No one’s going to eat it, right? Because, you know that stuff can kill you, and that’s not the way I plan to go.”

“Oh yeah?” Remus asked, ignoring her questions. “What is your plan then?”

“I dunno. In my sleep? Fighting a dragon? Kicking Riddle in the face?”

“You do that, Evan,” Sirius said, beginning to laugh. “Be sure to kick off his nose for me.”

. . .

A few hours later, Lily found herself in a metal basin in James’ tent, watching as the dirt slowly began to diffuse into the water. She took a breath and dunked her head into the water, scrubbing her hair to get the lye through it. She would put some leftover cooking grease on it later. Who cared if it got damaged, she was a boy now and most boys didn’t give a damn about their hair. She sat back and rung her hair out, relaxing against the side of the tub. The future was no doubt going to be strange and uncertain, but for now, she planned to marvel in the sense of being clean.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to get another chapter updated- the struggle-bus is real. But now that graduation is over, I have time to write again! Sometimes! As always please leave comments on your favorite parts of the chapter, or general thoughts on the story. What do you think will happen next?

A week later five horsemen arrived at the camp.

At the sound of approaching hooves, Lily looked up through the infirmary window. Aberforth had begrudgingly let her help him with replenishing the stock of herbs since she wasn’t “completely inept” at tying them into the bundles that would be hung up for drying. Sitting here, breathing in the smell of chamomile and sage from the bundles she was tying together, she could almost imagine that she home. That behind her was not Aberforth, but the castle midwife grinding up willow bark. Well almost, if she closed her eyes. But with closed eyes she couldn’t watch the new riders.

The first of the men had just dismounted from his house a few meters from the Captain’s tent, turning to whisper in his horse’s ear and stroke her nose before turning towards the entrance to the tent where James had just appeared. He took the hat off his head and made as though to give some sign of deference, but was stopped by James slapping his shoulders and pulling him into a hug.

Lily snorted and looked back to the knot she was tying. She had no idea how James had managed to be promoted to Captain if dignity was a requirement for the position. The man was confident, sure; seemed to inspire loyalty in his men effortlessly: a natural leader. Petunia would have been green with jealousy. But his respect was asked for, and earned, not commanded. For dignified, he was not.

She looked back up to see James frown and gesture in the direction of the infirmary. The man turned, and Lily somehow knew he was looking for her. She stood and went to hang a few of the bundles she had already made, trying to hide the fact that her hands shook as she looped the twine over their hooks.

“What do you mean I can’t come?” James’ voice came from right outside the building now. Lily heard someone murmur back at him, but couldn’t make out any words except for an exasperated “Captain” interrupting James when he tried to speak again. Aberforth started to chuckle.

“That’ll be Longbottom,” he said handing Lily another bundle of chamomile to tie up. “No one else they could send is capable of shutting our captain up quite as effectively.” Lily smiled in response, but her mind was elsewhere. This was the first time she had heard Aberforth laugh – why did it seem so familiar? She was distracted, however, by the sound of the door opening.

A tall man entered, with Sirius on his heels. His eyes scanned the room, pausing briefly on Lily, but ultimately it was Aberforth he addressed in a pleasant voice that hinted at familiarity behind the formality.

“Hello, Aberforth. Would you mind if we borrowed your friend Evan here for a bit?

“So kind of you, Major,” Aberforth said, a wry smile on his face as he continued grinding his pestle, “to phrase it as a question. Might I assume, however, that your request to take my extra set of hands away is not one I can turn down?”

Sirius snickered from where he was leaning against the doorframe. The major smiled, unbothered. “What if we collected some more herbs while we were out? I’m sure Evan could be just as useful that way, refilling your supply of…”

“Chamomile.” Lily supplied, as the major gestured at her bundle.

“Exactly. Would that do Aberforth?”

Aberforth looked hard at the major for a few seconds, then shook his head and turned away. “Sure Longbottom. The kid knows what we need. Just get him back before I need to start dinner preparations. I just can’t knead dough like I used to.”

Lily grabbed a few satchels and a small knife, then followed the major out of the infirmary. In a few bounds Sirius caught up and ambled along beside her, hands in his pockets as though he were just taking a midday stroll. Lily almost wanted to laugh at him, but her nervousness stopped her. Who was this major, and why did he want to talk to her? She watched the back of his head, as though willing it to answer her as they walked through rows of tents. The major walked all the way through the far side of the camp and to a clearing next to the stream before he turned to look at her. Lily avoided his eyes by scanning for herbs.

The stream gurgled cheerfully over some rocks in its current path, but Lily could see where its route had changed over time. To either side of the stream the ground was lower than elsewhere, and the rocks had the smoothed-over look that came from years of running water wearing down their surface. Few trees were growing where they were standing, and the ground was mainly covered with moss and grasses.

“There’s no chamomile here,” she said. The major shrugged. They both knew that’s not why they were there.

“Perhaps you can gather some later,” he suggested. His voice could just be heard over the sound of the stream. Lily wondered if that was part of the reason why he chose to bring her here. There was nowhere for anyone to listen to their conversation where they wouldn’t be seen. “Listen, son –”

“Don’t call me that.”

“What?”

“Don’t call me son,” Lily said, crossing her arms as she looked at him. “I’m not your son, and that’s a terrible excuse for a nickname. If you’re not going to call me Evan than at least put some effort into it like he is.” She nodded her head towards where Sirius was standing grinning at her outburst. “Like, what are you, five, six years older than me? Are you even old enough to have a child?”

The side of the man’s mouth twitched. “Hopefully,” he said, “Alright, Evan then c—”

“Wait,” Sirius interrupted. As Lily watched, his smile seemed to grow three times larger, first stretching out at the mouth, then growing wide as his eyebrows raised. “You just said hopefully.”

“Sirius –“

“No, you said hopefully. Frank, are you—”

“I’m not talking about this right now Sir—”

“Are you having a baby?”

The major – Frank – stared at Sirius for what felt to Lily like several minutes, head tilted slightly, as though he were asking him a silent question. Then he shook his head slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Not that it has anything to do with our current conversation, but before the war, yes, Alice and I were trying to have a baby. BUT,” he said, stopping Sirius before he could speak again, “I haven’t heard anything, so can we please get back on topic?”

“I’m sorry,” Sirius said, “I just can’t help picturing a baby Frank. Alice’s eyes, and your cheekbones…”

“It seems you two have met,” Lily said, joining Frank in watching Sirius as he continued rambling on about tiny feet.

“Oh, we are well past that,” Frank said. “We practically grew up together. Think we might be related too, come to think of it.’

“And yet you managed to avoid one of his nicknames?”

“Oh, no. I have a nickname,” Frank said, smiling. “He just knows that if he were to use it while I’m in uniform that I would not hesitate to kill him.”

“Something I still think you’re being unreasonable about, by the way,” Sirius said, rejoining the conversation. “James doesn’t mind being called Prongs around camp. In fact, he actively discourages the men calling him Captain when off-duty, so –”

“Yes, well James has always been a special case, hasn’t he?” Frank interjected. “Anyway, getting back to Evan—”

“Yes, Evan. You can help me figure out his nickname!”

“Sirius,” Lily said, “maybe now isn’t quite the time.” Her nervousness had drained away by this point, leaving her with the realization that she couldn’t remember what her backstory was. For days she had been preparing answers should anyone ask her about her life before being captured, but no one had. And now here she was, before what she assumed would be an interrogation, having forgotten all her intended responses in her distraction about Sirius’ stupid nickname obsession.

“Just a second, Evan. I was thinking Frank, that maybe it would help if I knew the meaning of the name Evan,”

“I really don’t need a nickname. Just calling me Evan is fine.”

“Because if we knew the definition then maybe we could play around with a synonym you know?”

“King.”

“What?” Both Lily and Sirius were looking at Frank now. Lily felt frozen, unable to move. What had he said?

“The definition of Evan. It means ‘the king’. Or heir to the land or something. Now, do you mind if we move on?”

“Sure, sure.” Sirius waved a hand absentmindedly in the air.

“Wonderful. Now Evan… Oh hell.” Frank sat down on the nearest rock, rubbing his eyes with a hand. “I don’t even know where to take this interrogation from here.”

“Perhaps if we restarted at the beginning?” All of a sudden Lily was struck by how young he was. He couldn’t be more than 23. Now that he wasn’t towering over her, he looked lost, like a boy forced to grow up too fast.

“No, there’s no point. Any sense of formality is long gone.” Frank sighed and looked up at Lily, resigned. “Look. You understand that the fact that you gave us the wrong age and refused to tell anyone your last name seems suspicious right?”

Lily shrugged.

“Okay, so explain to me why I should trust you.”

“What?” Lily couldn’t pretend she had been part of many interrogations in her time, but this one seemed highly unorthodox.

“Tell me why I should believe that you aren’t a spy and are loyal to Gryffindor.”

“I’m-I’m not.”

“You’re not a spy.” Frank’s blue eyes seemed to stare directly into hers, and Lily fought the urge to look away. “Go on.”

“I mean, I’m obviously not a spy, but I meant that I’m not loyal to Gryffindor.” Frank’s expression didn’t change, but Lily saw that she had gained Sirius’ attention. She went on, “Not that you don’t seem nice or anything, but I’m not from Gryffindor, I’m from Hogwarts. And it seems highly convenient to me that Gryffindor has nobly come to defend our kingdom by invading it just when the monarchy is likely to fall.”

“Hang on,” Sirius began, but Frank put up a hand to stop him.

“No, he’s got a point.”

“But – he thinks we’re trying to take over Hogwarts!” Sirius protested, looking at Frank with wide eyes.

“And I’m sure it would seem that way to the average person on the outside.” Frank's voice was calm as he looked at Sirius, “remember, he isn’t privy to some of the things we know. Look,” he said, turning to Lily, “You don’t have to like Gryffindor, but I can assure you we are not trying to take over your home. If we were, we would have invaded your capital already, regardless of the risk to Queen Petunia.”

“Queen Pet – she’s alive?” A weight Lily hadn’t realized she’d been carrying was lifted from her shoulders. Tuney was alright.

“Yes, alive and being used as blackmail. Riddle is threatening to kill her should we do so much as take one step into the city grounds. We have the capital under siege, more or less, but with the queen’s life at stake we can’t risk doing more, or,” Frank shifted, to lean his chin on his fists, “having military intel leaked to the Death Eaters. So, prove to me that you aren’t a spy.”

“I. I can’t.” Lily shook her head slightly. “No one can. Anyone could be a spy and you wouldn’t know, not unless you have some magical truth speaking potion.”

“It’s called alcohol,” Sirius said, in a tone that suggested he was trying harder than usual to be humorous.

Lily shook her head. “Whatever. I don’t know how to convince you that I am not trying to deceive you. All you can go on is the hope that my word is good.”

“Alright then,” Frank said eventually. “Give me your word.”

“I swear,” Lily said, “that I would never willingly help Riddle’s men. On the grave of my father, I swear that I will do anything to see Queen Petunia to her rightful place on the throne and Riddle to his noose. Since those are your goals, I will not betray you.”

Frank held her eyes, nodding slowly. Then he said “Okay. I think we can work with that.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the thing. I planned for this chapter to have three parts, the conversation you see between Remus and Lily below was part one, then there are two later parts that I guess I am going to have to write into the next chapter. Because this singular conversation ended up being too long. I also talked about bread a lot. I'm sorry, but I thought you would prefer an update sooner rather than later.

There was something relaxing to Lily about making bread. She couldn’t remember the first time she snuck into the castle kitchens, but some of her earliest memories were of plopping down at a table next to her friend Mary and kneading dough. If pressed, she’d swear she could remember Severus being there at one point, helping make bread in a time before he learned that baking was “women’s work”. So the day after her talk with Frank she woke up early, and began mixing flour and water, kneading bowl after bowl of dough to rise.

Frank hadn’t said anything else after their conversation. He’d returned her to Aberforth – who had seemed utterly unsurprised that she hadn’t collected any new herbs to dry – then walked out to meet with James, who had walked towards the infirmary around the time she, Sirius, and Frank had walked back into camp. He had given her the briefest smile and nod, but his hazel eyes were searching Frank. Lily wanted to watch him – them – to see what was said, but was called away from the window by Aberforth who needed a hand. By the time she turned back, the two of them were just figures in the distance, too far away to even see the body language accompanying their dialogue.

Lily wasn’t worried. Why would she be worried? She was merely focused – after all, when one had at least 100 loaves to be made, efficiency was key. Lily put all thoughts aside and concentrated on her hands, on the repetitive folding of dough. So intent was her focus, that it wasn’t until hands took the piece of dough from her that she realized Remus had entered the kitchen.

“I was working on that,” she said, watching him warily. Remus was looking around the room, taking in, no doubt, the floury mess that had become the kitchen counter space over the last hour that Lily had worked. Lily wasn’t quite sure what to make of him coming alone. She had only really seen Remus with other people, usually Sirius or James. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him. In fact she felt comfortable with many of the soldiers in camp, a parade of people who greeted “Evan” when she followed Aberforth around camp, or ruffled her hair when she served them at meal times. But this was a change in his routine, and Lily had learned that changes in small habits were often followed by larger ones. On days when her parents didn’t call her in to take breakfast with them, she knew there would be talk of difficult alliance treaties, or rebel factions, or famine in the southeast corner of the kingdom. A tutor of etiquette showed up late, and Lily knew there would be a formal banquet or event that she had to prepare for in the upcoming week. Severus ran into her rooms looking as though all color had been leeched from his skin, and her entire world changed. So what was Remus here for?

“You don’t have to work on these alone you know,” he said, turning back to look at her. “I’m fairly confident that Aberforth is still capable of feeding the camp without you working yourself to death at all hours of the morning.”

Lily shrugged. “I like making bread. And he’d never say so, but his hands pain him this early in the morning.”

Remus sighed. “Alright then.” Then he took the round of dough Lily had been working on and pulled it towards himself, then began to knead. Lily watched him for a few seconds, then took down one of the bowls she had set out to rise. It had doubled in size, so she set to punching it down and shaping the dough inside into the rolls that would be left to rise again before being set in the oven. Then she looked out the window to see James escorting Frank across camp to where she knew the usual prisoners of war tent was. After a few moments, Frank went inside, leaving James to pace in a circle to the left of the tent entrance a few times before he seemed to make up his mind about where he was going and strode off to the other side of camp. Lily looked away and saw that Remus too was watching the action outside the window. Lily cleared her throat.

“So, I guess today the Major is conducting interviews with everyone else captured?” She said casually, setting aside the rolls she had been working on and throwing some more firewood into the stove.

Remus continued looking out the window, though his hands didn’t stop moving as he responded. “Not everyone. He has enough people to speak to that he’ll probably be continuing for the next day or two, since he tries to set aside at least an hour to speak to each. Some of them will probably get more time to talk to him this visit than I will. It is good to see him though. It’s been a while.”

“Really?” Lily asked, looking at him. “I would have thought you would have had several prisoner checks before this one by now. I was under the impression your army has been mobilized at the Hogwarts border for months – way before Riddle took the capital.”

“Well yes,” Remus said, inclining his head slightly, “we have. But Frank isn’t always the one who comes. Usually they just send whoever is closest.”

Whoever was closest? That logically made sense. “Was he closest this time?”

Remus’ hands slowed. “No, I don’t think he was,” he said slowly. He looked down at his kneaded ball of dough and passed it to Lily, before pouring out a bowl of risen dough to work on shaping. Lily set the kneaded ball in the bowl and covered it, before grabbing some to work on herself.

“Then why do you think he was the one who came?” She asked, watching Remus’ face. He seemed to be considering his words carefully.

“Well,” he began, “Frank is someone who is almost universally accepted as fair. And I don’t just mean pale, though you can probably see for yourself that he’s a from a town closer to the border than most of men at his rank. But he’s just. And will listen to anyone, from any walk of life, with equal levels of respect. When he makes a judgement, few would contest it. Even James doesn’t usually argue with him.”

“Okay,” Lily said slowly. “But isn’t the goal to be fair every time? It doesn’t seem ‘just’, as you said, to have some majors give people harder interviews than others.”

“True,” Remus said, “But for most people this conversation isn’t their last. Most of the people captured near the border are probably just that – people who accidentally wandered too close to a war camp. Frank’s job is to try to find whether anyone shows signs of evasive training, or really shows any symptoms of being a member of Riddle’s forces. Those that do are given higher priority removal, because they could be a danger risk to others within the camp, or could have useful information for our generals. But for everyone else,” Remus shrugged, “they have the opportunity for a real trial later in the capital. I can assure you; the courts of Godric’s Hollow are more than fair.”

“So, what’s different this time?” Lily took the tray of rolls from Remus so she could put in next to the oven for its final rise. Doing so had the added benefit of forcing him to look at her. “If fairness now isn’t really an issue, why do you think they sent for Frank?”

“Well,” Remus said, reaching for another bowl. Lily waited for him to continue his sentence while he immersed himself in shaping dough. “I suspect it probably had something to do with you.”

“Me?” Lily asked, keeping her voice level as she spoke. “Why do you think that?”

Remus sighed, and looked directly at her. “For one thing, Evan, you’re underage and alone. Gryffindor isn’t big on forcing children to go through formal court proceedings, so they wanted someone who could evaluate you here and now. For another,” he said, speaking over her as she started to protest that she wasn’t a child, “people in camp like you. I can think of any number of people who might be inclined to complain if they felt you were wronged. I mean, in the few days before James got around to sending an update, Aberforth had already decided he cared about you.”

“Aberforth tolerates me,” Lily corrected.

“Trust me, for Aberforth that’s saying something,” Remus said, lips twitching slightly. “For him, that’s practically adopting you as next-of-kin.”

“So, you’re saying that a couple of military officials decided against efficiency by sending Major Longbottom instead of whoever was most convenient, because they didn’t want to upset our resident cook and doctor?” Lily said. She realized that she had placed her hand on her hip at some point during her statement, and quickly pulled it down. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it, but it sounds kind of unrealistic.”

“I suppose it does,” Remus agreed, smiling slightly. “But it’s true. Let’s just say that Aberforth has… connections. His circumstances were such that he probably could have had any military position he chose, but he decided he wanted to cook. He also got trained in basic military medicine, since cooks are often asked to perform the role of camp surgeon, and after decades of practice he probably could have been a general doctor by now, but apparently he loves what he does. My understanding is that he has refused all offers of promotion. Anyway,” Remus looked at her significantly as he slid across his finished tray of rolls, “I suspect that had Aberforth thought you were mistreated in any way by the hierarchy of military officials that make decisions for this camp, that word would travel quickly. The queen herself might find reason to get involved in your case. But Aberforth likes Frank, and everyone knows Frank treats people nobly, so, yeah.”

“Huh.” Lily was not quite sure how to respond to that. On one hand, she was fascinated. Aberforth could have been anything, but he chose to be a camp cook. Lily had always loved spending time following the castle cooks and midwife around, but this was always seen by others as a childish hobby – something she would grow out of in time. It’s true, Remus said Aberforth had ‘connections’, which likely puts him lower on the noble hierarchy than herself, but the idea that anyone who could have been in a position of power would yet decide to serve everyone else instead… was inspiring. On the other, she still felt like she was missing something. Like a piece of the puzzle wasn’t fitting quite right yet. “Is that why Sirius came with us then? To help make sure Frank was being fair during my interview?”

“Um, not really.” Remus said, his forehead creasing slightly. “That was more because he didn’t think you should have to do it alone. I mean, Frank is a wonderful person, but we thought you might be more comfortable if you weren’t by yourself with a stranger.”

“Thank you,” Lily said softly. She hadn’t missed the accidental change in pronouns – a switch from he to we. Even if coming had been Sirius’ idea, his concern had clearly been shared with Remus, if not others. “I mean, please thank him for me. That was kind of him.”

“I will,” Remus said, meeting her eyes. Then he looked away and continued rolling out bread. “It’s the sort of thing James has done for us, but since he couldn’t Sirius took it upon himself. Anyway, I’m sure it amused him to go. He hasn’t been up to mischief in weeks, and I saw the look in his eye as he followed you two. If he wasn’t planning to let out some pent-up chaos I’ll eat my hat.”

Lily laughed. “He didn’t tell you? Poor Frank was losing his mind…”

**Author's Note:**

> How is writing the title the hardest part of this story thus far? I don't know if I can rename works once I have already published them, but if you have any better name suggestions and wanted to post them in the comments (with all your other love, support, and constructive criticism) I would really appreciate it!


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